


this is the start of how it all ends

by serenitysea



Series: i'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 04:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2799014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>aka</b>: that time skye kept the obelisk and let shield take her and ward in after killing people and destroying her parents. (and all the things she can do with the obelisk and the terrible, terrible fallout.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	this is the start of how it all ends

**Author's Note:**

> i'm really sorry everyone. it's been a hell of a week.
> 
> (also, there are no spoilers for the finale because this was planned long before _however_ there are _events_ that take place that could, _hypothetically_ be finale-compliant.)
> 
> i do advise reading the first four parts of this series before jumping in, although, if you want hella sads and lots of angst, carry on.

They shake off the dust and rubble and in a way, it is like letting everything — _all the voices, the death, her raging anger and the fire_ — go.  
  
Skye grips the Obelisk in her left hand and laces the fingers of her right hand with his. Ward takes a deep breath and glances down at her. "You sure you want to do this?"  
  
(Half a dozen alternative options immediately come to mind.)  
  
She gives him a strained smile. " 'Til the end of the world, right?"  
  
"You're so dramatic," he chides affectionately, squeezing her hand once in support.  
  
They step out of the wreckage like beacons of life among a sea of decay—  
  
—and step into chaos.  
  
*  
  
There are easily two dozen operatives with guns trained on them. It doesn't take much figuring out and sorting through the way they are stationed to know that they are part of Coulson's team.  
  
This was not how she wanted to do this.  
  
The vise around her heart tightens.  
  
"No," Skye responds simply, and raises the Obelisk. It lights up eagerly and suddenly, pained shouts can be heard from the small crowd before them, shortly followed by the loud clatter of weapons being dropped to the ground.  
  
" _Stand down, Skye_." Coulson's voice echoes from a long distance and she figures they took the Quinjet to get here so quickly.  
  
"Is the Bus —" She murmurs to Ward quietly.  
  
"— Still cloaked a few miles away."  
  
"We should probably let them have it back now."  
  
(And Ward knows there will be no more running after this.)  
  
They stand there patiently as men swarm around them and attempt to put handcuffs on their wrists. Skye will not let go of his hand or of the Obelisk and insists on speaking with Director Coulson.  
  
After what seems like hours have passed, Coulson emerges from his splinter team and his eyes pass over Ward and Skye, and the Obelisk still tightly gripped in her hand.  
  
"You found it."  
  
She shrugs. "You found us."  
  
"There was an earthquake that registered a 7.9 on the Richter scale matching your last known coordinates. We kind of _had_ to check that out."  
  
Skye lifts the Obelisk like she is curling a dumbbell. "Ooops?"  
  
"You know we have to take you in," Coulson says, raising his eyebrows firmly.  
  
"Right." Skye looks like she wants to argue and then thinks better of it. She offers the Obelisk to Ward. "Hold that for me, will you?"  
  
Everyone holds their breath as he takes it and slips it into his back pocket. Ward then shifts to put his hands behind his back so that the agent next to him can cuff him. "Careful," he smirks when the hands ghost a little _too_ near to the alien weapon. "You don't want to touch that."  
  
Coulson sighs heavily and activates his comm. "Yeah. We've got them."  
  
"We parked the Bus a few miles back," Skye offers helpfully, as they begin their trek down.  
  
"May has reported some damage to the paint and cosmetic damage to the instrument panel in the cockpit," he dryly responds, watching with some amusement as Skye winces briefly in remorse.  
  
"Everything else should be okay?"  
  
"You'd better hope so," Coulson reprimands, gesturing them into the Quinjet at last. "We'll talk about the rest when we get back home."  
  
Something twists uncomfortably on Skye's face at his words but it is gone too quickly for either of them to question.  
  
"Home," she mutters, already imagining the scene. "This ought to be fun."  
  
*  
  
"You're not locking him up," Skye says flatly.  
  
"Skye, he's a wanted criminal and he's done —"  
  
"— _I've_ done those things," she coolly reminds him. "I killed Ian Quinn and Talbot."  
  
May rests her hand on his arm in warning and they exchange a loaded glance.  
  
Coulson grits his teeth and swallows the automatic excuse on his tongue. "What about Senator Ward?"  
  
Skye's expression becomes shuttered and she turns away, refusing to answer.  
  
(There are only about a hundred and seven things that he wants to ask her; the Obelisk looms heavy over their heads like the threat of a true 0-8-4 and she will not relinquish it to anyone for investigation. While Skye has cooperated to the bulk of their questioning and debrief so far, she clams up every time Ward's brother is mentioned. She refuses to discuss what happened.)  
  
Saving Coulson from having to come at her with a different angle of questions is a firm knock on the door.  
  
"Come in," Coulson says, and the door swings open to reveal Ward.  
  
The tension visibly drains from Skye as she crosses to his side, fitting herself under his arm neatly. They stand as a unit and there is no mistaking the source for her strength when she says, "If you want me to stay on this base, Ward stays too. Whatever I do, he can do. Wherever I go, so does he."  
  
Coulson meets Ward's eyes briefly before directing his question back to Skye. "And if I disagree?"  
  
Skye opens her hand reflexively and the Obelisk floats into the room and slips into her palm like an trusted companion. "I don't think you will."  
  
May stiffens ever so slightly and positions herself between Skye and Coulson.  
  
There is a bruised look in her eyes when Skye turns to leave the room and a defeat that echoes from her without words.  
  
"I don't know what to do with her," he confesses to May, tiredly rubbing at the corner of his eye.  
  
"If it's any consolation," May says, "I don't think she knows what to do either."  
  
*  
  
The rest of the team receives them warily, casting a wide berth and making no attempts to close it.  
  
Only Trip is brave enough (stupid enough?) to eat meals with them (because where Skye goes, Ward does too) and though it is some of the most awkward conversation she has ever had, she kind of has to love him for it.  
  
Everyone else treats her like she's some kind of monster.  
  
(Ward doesn't have the heart to tell her that they kind of are.)  
  
(He doesn't tell her that it probably won't be going away any time soon, either.)  
  
*  
  
Fitz is locked away in the lab again and Skye is watching him intently through the glass.  
  
Ward stands by her side like a dark protector and only has to turn his head to stare at anyone — who dares to let their gaze linger a moment too long on Skye — to have them scurrying off in the opposite direction.  
  
"I can fix him," Skye promises fiercely, her fist clenched tightly around the Obelisk.  
  
Ward sees it light up in answer and feels it begun to hum softly. "Skye." He puts his hand on her shoulder.  
  
She sighs heavily and the Obelisk powers down. She passes it to him without looking and folds her arms stubbornly. "I just wish they'd let me _do_ something."  
  
(Privately, Ward still thinks it is pretty amazing that they're not both locked up in the vault and can't help but wonder if that is because Skye belongs to Coulson, in a way — or because no vault can contain her.)  
  
Ward tucks the Obelisk in his back pocket, likes the comfortable weight of having it there. "It's not our call to make," he reminds her gently, putting an arm around her shoulders and nudging her away from the lab.  
  
She huffs dramatically and allows him to guide her down the hall.  
  
"I'm so _bored_ ," she moans, falling back onto the bed.  
  
There isn't much that they are allowed to do while on base at the Playground, but having private quarters away from the rest of the team feels like more like a bonus than a punishment during times like these.  
  
"Are you?" he drawls, head tipped to the side in question.  
  
A smile curves warmly on her face and Skye raises her hand to him, fingers outstretched in want.  
  
"Let's see what I can do about that."  
  
*  
  
They've been around this block before and Skye can almost recite Coulson's side of the argument by heart.  
  
"Full immunity for him," she doggedly insists, swallowing down the bile that rises in her throat as she is forced to continue, "And I'll let you run whatever tests you want."  
  
Coulson didn't become the Director of Shield because he was a mediocre negotiator, or because he couldn't read people well.  
  
"Skye, we would never do anything without your consent. As it stands, Ward has already been given more leeway than any other person in Shield custody —"  
  
"— Except me."  
  
"You're not in —"  
  
"— I am _so_ in Shield custody. The 0-8-4 with a _toy_." She scoffs in frustration. "Don't tell me you don't want to run tests and find out what my limits are. Just think of what you could accomplish with _this_ ," she lifts her palm and the Obelisk comes crashing through the glass windows to fling into her hand, Mjolnir-style.  
  
She is clearly miserable with the terms and yet stubbornly refusing to back down.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Coulson finally asks, dropping the stern look and leaning forward in earnest. "What does he have on you?"  
  
Skye tiredly closes her eyes. "You _would_ think it's something he has on me," she responds, exhaustion seeping from her body. "But you've got it all wrong. Ward keeps me safe."  
  
"Safe," Coulson echoes in disbelief. "From _what_?"  
  
She stands up, tucking the Obelisk into her back pocket (the same way he has only seen Ward do before) and favors him with a sadly dimmed smile. "Everything."  
  
*  
  
Arguments seem to be the communication of choice at the Playground these days.  
  
When she next sees Jemma, their conversation immediately sparks into a fight.  
  
"It's not a magic _wand_ ," Jemma protests shrilly, flinging an arm toward the lab in frustration. "You can't just wave it and make everything better."  
  
"Actually," Skye slowly responds, like she is explaining a particularly difficult concept, "I _can_."  
  
Jemma's eyes are huge and shiny with barely held back tears. "Did it ever occur to you," she bites out, and her words are arrows, aimed and shot with terrifying accuracy, "perhaps no one _wants_ you to do that?"  
  
The hurt and surprise blooms on Skye's face and she steps backward, as if to put some distance between them. "Jemma, I would never — I mean, not without permission and —"  
  
"— The way you asked _permission_ before you killing those people?"  
  
Skye goes white.  
  
The silence that follows is like a jagged scream echoing for miles.  
  
"That was uncalled for." Jemma presses her lips together firmly and nods briskly. "I apologize."  
  
"Don't bother," Skye slowly answers, lifting deadened eyes to meet the unflinching gaze of the woman she used to call her friend. "At least now I know how you feel."  
  
"Skye —"  
  
Skye lifts a hand briefly, and walks away.  
  
*  
  
Ward finds her on the roof, sitting in the steadily drizzling rain.  
  
He automatically shrugs out of his jacket and places it over her shoulders. He pulls the Obelisk from his back pocket and sits down next to her, standing it up between them.  
  
Skye leans against his side and turns her face into his shoulder. The rain mixes easily with the tears on her cheeks.  
  
"Remember when you told me you wanted to imagine that it was just the two of us and the outside world didn't exist?" Before he can answer, she goes on. "We _are_ the outside world."  
  
Ward closes his eyes in regret and pulls her closer. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Not your fault," she says, watching from the corner of her eye as the Obelisk lights up softly in answer to her distress. She focuses on her breathing until the writing slowly fades and disappears, symbol by symbol.  
  
"You're getting better at that," he nudges her, with the faintest hint of surprise in his voice.  
  
"For all the good it does me," Skye bitterly responds.  
  
She wants to hurl the damn thing off the roof but it will only ever come singing back to her when she least expects it. (And sometimes, when she really needs it.)  
  
"Things takes time," he cautions, running a hand through her hair. "We knew this would be a tough road."  
  
"You wish we had kept running," she retorts, but there is no real heat behind it.  
  
Ward shakes his head. "I'm in this with you no matter what."  
  
She sighs and tips her head up into the rain.  
  
It's the _no matter what_ that worries her the most.  
  
*  
  
Come twilight, she has horrible nightmares.  
  
Ward has learned the intimate patterns of her breathing and movement of her limbs even in sleep.  
  
This knowledge has saved his life on more than one occasion.  
  
Skye wakes up _screaming_ blue murder and the Obelisk comes whistling into her hands like a beloved friend, responding to her like a beacon of distress. Ward knows the dodge and weave of surviving the path of the Obelisk as it moves like a heat-seeking missile and flattens himself just in time to avoid getting hit in the head.  
  
(Skye had ordered it to make peace with him when they were stuck in the in between and it accepts him as much as it probably can, but there is no denying that it will answer to Skye and save her from whatever it perceives as a threat — and he is not stupid enough to think that he is not included in that.)  
  
She tucks it into her arm like it is a loaf of bread and draws her knees up to her chest. When she lays her head on top of them and cries, it's almost more than he can take.  
  
Ward draws her close and wraps his arms around her as if he is physically holding her together.  
  
(He is.)  
  
The Obelisk grows warm against their skin and pulses with a faint pattern of light, as if trying to comfort them.  
  
They stay that way until morning.  
  
*  
  
There are good days (when Coulson lets them run a mission) and bad days (when Skye stands in front of the door to Vault D and doesn't move).  
  
And Ward never leaves her side.  
  
*  
  
May barges in without knocking.  
  
Skye lifts her head from the nest of blankets to peer at her former SO in confusion. "I know we missed breakfast, but…"  
  
"What did you do?" Her voice is sharp and commanding and she only has eyes for Skye.  
  
Ward rests a hand on Skye's shoulder in support when he feels her begin to tremble slightly.  
  
There is only one thing that would send Melinda May into an uproar without any thought of self-preservation.  
  
"I was trying to help," Skye begins to explain, sitting up and taking the sheets with her to preserve modesty. "Is he… _okay_?"  
  
"The writing has stopped." May does not look happy (the way she should look happy) as she delivers the news.  
  
"That's great!" Skye looks at Ward for confirmation, but he is still focused on the way all of the tension is restrained in the other woman's body like she is barely holding herself back. "…Isn't it?"  
  
May visibly steels herself when she says, "He says he feels empty. That there is something _missing_ now." She takes a deep calming breath and finally says, "Coulson is having trouble remembering things."  
  
Skye looks like she's had the wind knocked out of her. She is no match for the combination of fury and fear that is coming from May in waves. "But he's better. He hasn't lost his mind, like Garrett did."  
  
Though Ward is careful not to react when she mentions Garrett's name, he knows she can sense his uneasiness because she reaches for his hand under the sheets and squeezes once in apology.  
  
"Skye," May is not making any attempts to hide her panic and it is alarming to see how quickly she is unraveling. "I'll ask you one more time: _What. Did. You. Do_."  
  
Skye gasps from the effort of holding back tears, because she knows something has gone horribly wrong. "I can fix it, I can —"  
  
"Don't you **_dare_**. Stay away from him." May looks like she wants to say more but ever-present threat of what could happen if Skye got upset and misused the Obelisk hangs over everyone's head.  
  
After she has gone, Skye heaves an anguished cry of pain. The Obelisk goes ice cold from where it rests beneath Ward's shoulder. He picks it up gingerly and sets it on the ledge behind them.  
  
"I just wanted to make him better, I just —" The rest of her explanation dissolves into tears and she cries like the bottom has just been yanked out from beneath her.  
  
(In a way, it has.)  
  
*  
  
They run into Jemma on their way to the garage.  
  
"And you wonder why I wouldn't let you anywhere _near_ Fitz." The venom in the young biochemist's voice is like stinging knives of agony.  
  
"Jemma. I can _explain_ —"  
  
"— _Don't_." Jemma is all but shaking as she gathers her courage and there are tears shimmering in her eyes when she says, "It would be better if you didn't " _help_ " anyone ever again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go attend to the Director."  
  
It's like the scene from the hallway but in a way, it's so much worse. And Skye hasn't been sleeping (because of the nightmares) and she's already sick to her stomach (because of Coulson) and she can't hold it back any longer and she just _explodes_.  
  
The Obelisk goes _white hot_ in Skye's hands and Ward braces for impact and Jemma's eyes widen impossibly huge and —  
  
*  
  
The thing is.  
  
The thing is, Skye feels regret.  
  
Ever since she had been nearly suffocated with the sorrow and death of all those who had dared to hold the Obelisk — what she has now, she has at a great cost. She has the power and the ability to channel her emotions through it, yes. But it also has the power to channel through _her_.  
  
Not a day goes by when she isn't almost devoured by the grief and the tremendous energy in her hands.  
   
The Isabelle Hartleys of the world, the ones who wanted to do _good_ and not evil, those who thought they were helping — she feels them all. She knows their secrets and dreams and hopes and fears and the last thing they thought _just_ before the Obelisk reduced them to ash.  
  
On really low, horrible days, she feels her father and the raw anger and pride that prowls at the back of her mind, searching for an outlet. The falsely soothing influence of her mother, trying to keep her in line and give her more time and information about their family.  
  
And it's _oppressive_.  
  
It's enough to make you want to scream.  
  
The only thing that makes it bearable is Ward.  
  
He was the only thing strong enough to block out the voices of her parents at their worst and the only thing _big_ enough to drown out the people in her head who are clamoring to be heard. The Obelisk _respects_ him, as Skye has chosen him to carry this burden with her and it grants him the same abilities and deference, even if he isn't aware of it just yet.  
  
But he will be.  
  
*  
  
When the dust settles, Ward is holding the Obelisk.  
  
It pulses hotly in his hand but he doesn't let go.  
  
Skye has fallen to the ground and he drops to kneel beside her, frantically smoothing back her hair and willing the life to breathe back into her lungs. Suddenly she is gasping, taking huge lungfuls of air.  
  
"I can't _do_ this anymore," she drops her head, curled into herself in pain. She's like a wounded animal, broken and hurting and nearly _out of her mind_ in heartache. "It just hurts _all the time_ , it _always_ hurts and I can't —"  
  
There is a sharply drawn breath and they look up to see Jemma watching, with her hands covering her mouth. Tears are already streaming down her face and she takes huge, staggering steps until she is on her knees beside Skye, gripping her hand tightly.  
  
"I didn't know," she says, her movements jerky and hurried as she helps Skye to sit up against Ward and orders her to breathe calmly.  
  
When Skye has finally gotten her bearings, she lifts defeated eyes to look at her. "I didn't want you to."  
  
Jemma crumples as imagines the pain Skye must have gone through and she lists to the side, getting perilously close to where the Obelisk is still clutched in Ward's hand.  
  
"Whoa, careful," he gently moves her to safety, and reluctantly sets the Obelisk down and far from accidental reach.  
  
The facts assimilate quickly and Jemma stares at both of them with a mixture of concern and regret. "You're protecting us. All of us."  
  
"It's not that simple." Skye turns her head so that she doesn't have to look at the hope and love shining from Jemma's eyes. "You weren't wrong before; I _killed_ those people."  
  
Jemma looks at the nearly tangible weight of _grief_ from where it rests on Skye's bowed shoulders and wonders how she didn't see it before. How upset and dead inside she had been, how dark the smudges were under her eyes and how scarily thin she had gotten.  
  
  
(The only one who had dared to take meals with them was Trip and he had been in and out of base on missions now that they were down another field agent. Skye was quick to pick a fight and keep her on the offensive so that she would leave before being able to take note of her declining health — and Ward was always close by to shield her from whatever slipped past her defenses.  
  
And Jemma thinks it's no excuse. She should have _noticed_.)  
  
  
Ward clears his throat and slips between the two girls under the guise of helping Skye to her feet. "Please tell Coulson that it's better this way."  
  
Bewildered from the rapid onslaught of information, Jemma can only blink at him. "Tell Coulson…? But you aren't — _leaving_?"  
  
Skye laughs brokenly. "It's not a magic wand, Jemma. I can't just wave it and fix everything."  
  
"I deserved that," Jemma quietly admits, steeling her nerve to walk with them as they head for the Quinjet.  
  
"It's better this way," Ward repeats softly as he passes the Obelisk to Skye, who tucks it into the crook of her elbow, as is her habit. "We can't stay here. Not like this."  
  
Skye bravely attempts a watery smile. "Take care of everyone for me, okay?" When Jemma moves forward, as if to hug her, Skye backpedals and makes a big show of gesturing to where the Obelisk rests in her arms. "Can't be too careful, right?"  
  
She disappears into Quinjet before Jemma can say anything else and then it's just Ward who remains watching her silently.  
  
"You really hurt her," he finally says, not unkindly. "Because your opinion mattered so much to her and she needed her friend."  
  
"I —"  
  
"I understand why you did it," Ward tucks a hand into his pocket and begins the pre-flight exterior checklist to afford Jemma the privacy to work through the shame and sadness of her emotions. "But she would have never hurt Fitz."  
  
"The way she would have _never_ hurt Coulson," Jemma retorts, pride stinging and clapping a hand over her mouth in regret.  
  
"And _that_ ," Ward says, stepping backward into the Quinjet, "Is why we have to leave."  
  
It is not, by any means, an easy goodbye.  
  
( _until the end of the world_.)  
  
*  
  
**epilogue**.  
  
  
The world is mostly quiet, for them.  
  
They don't run into a lot of trouble — though it would be untrue to say that they avoid it entirely.  
  
  
(Who would be stupid enough to try and take a weapon that could kill you on the spot?  
  
As it turns out, there _are_ those people alive in the world.)  
  
  
Jemma sends them updates from time to time.  
  
  
Coulson makes a full recovery.  
  
(Once they had left, the gaps in his memory had started to fill in. There is no residual damage and it appears that whatever Skye had done with the Obelisk had completely repaired the neural pathways eaten away by the from the GH-325 worming into his system.  
  
He and May have been working together to compile a list of Hydra splinter bases that Skye and Ward have been instrumental in dismantling.)  
  
  
Fitz does, too.  
  
(There is a new piece of equipment that appears in the lab not long after they've left and it strengthens his cognitive ability and tactile coordination. He had made rapid strides and is closing the gap between who he _was_ and who he _is_.)  
  
  
Every so often they will come across Trip while on a mission and he will run point for them. Afterwards he usually has dinner and a beer with them before making the necessary arrangements to head home.  
  
(Once, he meets them in the middle of Paris with two envelopes in his hand. Skye thinks it's the latest mission from the Director, but Ward catches sight of something in Trip's eyes and shakes his hand in gratitude before shuffling her along. Trip has far more important things to do than carry letters across the world, but he never complains and he's never treated them as anything _less_ than who they are and for that, Ward will be forever thankful.  
  
The envelopes each contain a note. The first is from May. _I'm sorry_.  
  
The second is from Coulson. _Thank you. Come home_.)  
  
  
Of course, they don't.  
  
They can't.  
  
Skye still has nightmares. She still wakes up with sadness roaring from her lungs and only Ward's quick reflexes and ability to countermand the Obelisk that saves them from leveling a city. There are debts to be paid and voices to drown out. There is a grief that threatens to swallow her whole, every day.  
  
She won't infect her family with that. She _won't_.  
  
Certain days — _most_ days — they stay together on the the outside of the world and pretend like nothing else exists.  
  
And it is enough.  
  
(It _has_ to be enough.)

*

**Author's Note:**

> um, this is probably a dangerous thing to add right now but you can always find me on [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com).


End file.
